Cement Heart(63)

Fuck no.

I took a deep breath and looked up at her. I’d never noticed how blue her eyes were until that exact moment when they stared back at me, waiting for an answer to her question.

“Um…” I hesitated. “My parents aren’t great people. They suck, actually. So once I was old enough to decide who I did and didn’t want in my life, they didn’t make the cut.”

“Hmmm.” She looked down at her lap and pinched at the fabric of her pants. “So you’re kinda like me… alone?”

“Yep.” I nodded. “I prefer it that way, though. The closer people are to you, the more opportunities they have to hurt you.”

Just as she opened her mouth to say something, the doorbell rang.

“Pizza’s here!” Matthew sprang to life and jumped to his feet, hopping up and down excitedly.

“To be continued.” She winked at me as she got off the couch and headed up front.

Or not.





OUR HOME OPENER of the season also happened to be the five-month anniversary of Mike’s death. Since the Wild had never formally paid tribute to him in terms of a public memorial, they decided the home opener would be the perfect time to do that. Every member of the team stood out on the ice in a single line, shoulder to shoulder, as Mike’s jersey was raised to the roof of the stadium during a moment of silence. I watched as the spotlight slowly followed it all the way to the top.



Asher

88



Every eye in the arena was on me; I could feel them on the back of my head. They were all thinking the same thing—Mike would be here if not for Viper. I wanted the game to start. I wanted that moment to be over, desperately. Rage boiled in my blood stream, and I just wanted to get out on the ice and get it out of me before I exploded.

A hand on my shoulder brought me back to reality.

“You ready?” Brody was frowning.

Looking around, I noticed that everyone else was already skating off the ice, but I was so lost in my own head, I hadn’t even realized we were done.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Let’s go!”

The game against the Oilers was more like a blood bath. One guy needed four stitches to close a cut in his chin, another guy lost two teeth, and medical glue fixed another cut on a hand—and that was just their team. In the end, the Wild came up with the win, barely, with a score of 3–2. A power play near the end almost tied it, but thanks to Murphy and his fast glove, he snatched the puck out of the air and saved the day.

After every game, we typically hung out for a little bit while the crowds thinned, but that night I took an extra long shower, hoping the crowds and reporters would be gone by the time I was done.

I wrapped a towel around myself, and my lonely friend that hadn’t seen action in almost three weeks now, and went to the locker room to get dressed.

“Just about everyone is gone. Except Kacie,” Brody said from the other side of the room. I whipped around to face him. I hadn’t even seen him sitting on the bench.

“Oh. Whatever.” I shrugged like it was no big deal.

“Don’t give me that shit. I know you.” He laughed.

“It’s just hard,” I admitted. “Not only was it the first game but also Big Mike’s tribute, and you know the reporters are gonna be hungry. I don’t want to say or do anything that’s gonna get me fined.”

“Like breaking a camera?”

I glared at him. “That cost me ten fucking grand.”

“You deserved it, but so did he. Hurry up and get dressed. I’ll walk out with you.”

Throwing my sweats and hoodie on, I decided I didn’t give a shit about drying my hair. I just wanted to go home and crawl into bed.

I grabbed my bag and followed Brody out of the locker room with my hood up and my head down, in case anyone was hanging around outside.

The wooden doors of the locker room thudded as they shut behind me, and within seconds, my name was called out.

“Viper!”

I looked up to see Matthew sprinting down the hallway toward me.

Immediately dropping to my knees, I held my arms out to catch him. “What’s up, buddy!” I was genuinely shocked to see him there. Michelle hadn’t mentioned anything in her text this morning about coming to the game tonight, but I was beyond excited to see her and Matthew.

As soon as he got close enough, I scooped him up in my arms and tossed him into the air. Lucy and Piper ran straight for Brody and wrapped their arms around his legs as Emma walked as fast as her little legs would let her, staring straight at her dad. Michelle and Kacie followed along behind them.

“Nice game, stud,” Kacie said in a sexy voice as she leaned in to give Brody a kiss.

“Do you two ever stop?” I rolled my eyes.